A Fallen Angel

10 inches.

"I can't go and say goodbye to my friends?" Criss asked. He already knew what the answer was going to be.

"No." The E-gen pony said. "I know it sounds unfair. But even your friend, Marshall, understood."

"He knew, and didn't tell me?" Criss was literally in peril of having a heart attack.

"No. We came while you were inside. He fought to come see you before we left. We explained ourselves, and he took it pretty well, actually."

Atleast he didn't betray me. "So explain it to me."

The blue unicorn let out a small sigh. "Alright, fine. If we took you back to the room, with Krystal, she'd fight. She'd probably get herself hurt. And then Marshal would fight because she's fighting. But he'd fight to the death."

That's true.

"Can't I give her some sorta farewell?" Criss's ears couldn't be lower. "She's my... Very special somepony."

"Yeah, here." The unicorn pulled a piece of paper off of the clipboard he had tucked under his arm. "You can write her a letter."

"Oh... I can't write." Criss said dejectedly.

"I'll write it for you, then." The pony caught Criss's eye and smiled.

Criss tried to smile back. "Thanks."

Hey Krys.

Sorry for not being able to say bye. I'm sure Marshall already explained, but they came when I didn't know and took me against my will.

Wish I could have written this myself, but I can't write too well....

Anyway, I was sending this letter because I knew you'd be upset that you didn't get to say "Goodbye". I just wanted you to know two things.

Number one: I will never forget you. Please wait for me.

Number two: I love you. I wish I'd been able to say it to you in person.

I'll try and come for you, no matter what.

Your's Sincerely,

Cristopher Crossing

P.S: Tell Marshall thanks for the visit to my mom, try to explain it to her gently.

The pony then followed it up with a letter that would have made Criss kill him.

Dear Marshall.

We are aware that your friend Cristopther sent a letter to your sister, and we are aware of it's contents. we would like to inform you, and you only that Criss Cross will be undergoing a mind wipe. He will not be able to remember anything. In the off chance he escapes before the mind wipe, he will probably come find you. If he does, he will be too uncontrolable. We will come after him. He will be a danger to any and all around him. Do with the information as you please.

Hoping you are well.

Cpl Time.

Criss was treated to something unusual.

A stretched carriage. For him.

Not exactly "his" of course. Just waiting.

For him.

If he hadn't been so damn shat on in life until that moment, he probably would've grinned.

As it was he just snorted. "Seems a bit excessive for trying to be discreet."

The unicorn that had accompanied him through three floors of the hospital remained just as silent as before.

"Whatever."

Criss had no choice: He climbed into the back of the carriage, and waited while the unicorn walked around the carriage and got in infront of Criss on a couch facing him. There was a small lurch as the carriage pulled away.

As soon as they were out of public eye, the unicorn lifted his sunglasses, and actually started answering Criss's questions. "First; yeah it seems excessive now, but we're going to Canterlot, to the palace. There, Princess Luna will have a look at you, see if your right or not, and than you'll get some sleep.If your lucky , the princess will decide that you are right for the job. If you aren't, she'll decide you aren't. In either case we'll wipe any memory you have and restart your life.

"However, if you are lucky, she'll look over your dossier, enjoy what she sees, and then you'll be taken into E-gen. Believe me, this is better. It may not seem like it now, but you'll enjoy it. I promise. And I never break my promises.

"Second; you can't leave. At all. At least not until the princess' want you to. For one thing, we have legal custody over you, for another, we have both the princess's consent. Also, Celestia will look you over too, to make sure we haven't chosen some heartless wretch.

"Third; E-gen isn't for the medical advancement of pony science. It's for genetic modification. Equestrian Genetic Modification Devision is for creating one pony. One. You got picked. If Luna decides your good for the job, than you'll become her apprentice. Hopefully, you can be genetically modified to be what she wants out of a pony."

The unicorn sighed, the first sign he may actually be equine in the short time Criss knew him. "Either way, you won't remember us. Whether Luna agrees or not, you'll have your mind wiped. You'll be put with a new family, and your whole life will start over. If need be, we'll use the ageing spell on you, so you'll restart your life."

Criss was shocked. Just shocked. From here on out, he'd be reset. Not just reset, but rebooted, reprogrammed, and completely re-engineered. More importantly, everything he had said in his letter had been a lie. "I-" Well, he beat Marshall. Two voice cracks, one word. He started over. "If it didn't matter what fucking happens, because you'll fucking wipe my mind anyway, why the fuck did you choose me?! Why not re-engineer somepony who FUCKING WANTED IT?!"

The unicorn just sighed. "Kid-"

"Don't you dare call me kid. I have a name."

"...Criss, look, the pony we re-engineer will still have his personality. We chose you because you had the personality we thought both princesses would like. That, and we had to take somepony who didn't want to come. I don't know why. I'm not far enough up the chain of command."

Criss didn't care. He wanted to go home. He was only a child. He missed his friends. He wouldn't even mind seeing his father again, he hated this so much. For the second time today he cried. He didn't even try hiding it, he just lay down on the seat of the carriage, folded his hooves around his head,

And cried himself to sleep.